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“If votes cast on Election Day decided the 2008 election,” the AP reported in September, John “McCain would have won in Florida, Colorado, North Carolina and Iowa.” That stat has always surprised me, given that it suggests late-deciders broke for the candidate of the incumbent president’s party.

Now, to be sure, John McCain was not then the incumbent. Anyway, I checked the 2008 exit polls and was fascinated by the break-down among late decides. McCain actually won those decided in the last week by a narrow margin and, by a greater margin, he won those deciding in the three days before the election.

Obama, however, won those who made up their mind on Election Day:

With the race very tight, it’s going to come down to two factors, how those late-deciders break — and how good of job each team does with its ground game (i.e., getting its voters to the polls).

Perhaps it’s a good sign then that Mitt Romney, in his “closing argument,” is at, as Jennifer Rubin put it, his “rhetorical best.”

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Israel’s most influential daily newspaper, Haaretz, has endorsed President Obama.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, assisted Israel’s defense by toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and deterring, albeit for a limited period, Iran’s accelerated progress toward attaining nuclear weapons. Bush contributed to Israel’s peace, even if partially, by being the first president to adopt the two-state solution. His support even enabled the evacuation of settlements from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

Obama continued this two-way track vis-a-vis Iran and the issue of Palestinian statehood. Under his pressure, Israel suspended for the first time – for a while – construction in the settlements. Relations between the two countries’ armed forces have never been so close. Obama’s challenge in his second term, if he wins the elections, is to lead the region to a stable arrangement of peace and security. The outcome of the elections will be determined by the voters’ decision as to which of the two candidates is good for America. But if any of them are vacillating in their vote over whether Obama has been a good president for Israel, the answer is yes.

Well, r-R might get the economy going, while reducing the number of people on food stamps and the length of unemployment benefits, and repealing Obamacare, and reducing the deficit. Those things would set the Left (socialist) project back 50 years.

You’re a hlf-cocked fucking lunatic. Romney lost some time ago and how fucking gullible are all of you hanging onto the hope that that twit Romney would give a shit about any of you ass-sucking republican faggots?

Grow the fuck up, everyone laughs at you because YOU”RE ridiculous. Just pathetic. Suck it up on election day, losers.

Levi, we will be weeping for our country and soon, when the whole corrupt house of cards collapses under the weight of unsustainability, you will be weeping like a little bitch ’cause Big Daddy government will be dictating your every breath. Enjoy.

You’ll be disappointed. I don’t care who wins, in the senses that (1) I have a life, (2) I have perspective, (3) I have confidence in my ability to handle what life may throw me. You have neither of those things, so your meltdown should be spectacular.

I can’t reveal how many times I’ve been tempted to brag how an Obama victory is going to profit me personally (because I’ve understood the true meaning/impact of His policies so much better than His own supporters), and have restrained myself from doing so, except for this time alone.

You’ll be disappointed. I don’t care who wins, in the senses that (1) I have a life, (2) I have perspective, (3) I have confidence in my ability to handle what life may throw me. You have neither of those things, so your meltdown should be spectacular.

Will I be disappointed? You may keep it together, but there will be plenty who can’t.

Yea! Scores of people are dead! Thousands have had their homes destroyed! Millions are without power! But it all helps the Preezy! How wonderful!

Levi, you are a true sociopath.

That’s not really how it works. The hurricane is a disaster and a human tragedy, of course. But politically, it pretty well dispels many of the Republican talking points about how terrible the federal government is. And with Chris Christie going into detail, unprompted, about how much he thinks of Obama’s leadership? Bloomberg’s endorsement? Well, there go all your talking points about how divisive and partisan and intransigent Obama is, too.

The polling has been burying Romney for weeks, so Obama’s re-election was pretty certain with no storm. But now there’s something for people to focus on instead of Romney’s bullshit. Election’s over.

ould someone explain to me this “Romney will take this country back fifty years” crap that’s all over the left today?

Well don’t you know there is a war on women.

As soon as Romney gets sworn in, he is going to write an executive order that outlaws abortion, prohibits birth control, and will require all women to immediately quit their jobs, don a poodle skirt and pearls and clean house and cook dinner for their spouses.

I haven’t got a clue what his exectuvie order is supposed to be for gays-but it will be bad, because the gay lefties say it will.

And Biden already said the third intent is to put all black folk back in chains.

Although the chains would be 150ish years not just 50.

Honestly, anyone who spouts the whole “set people back fifty years” stuff is just spouting hyperbolic BS.

Romney may not be my perfect candidate, but Obama has to be about my least perfect ever, so the GOP mostly just had to choose somebody competent. Romney IMO is not only competent, but I actually think he has a real sense of how to get the economy going again. I might be wrong, but I would rather go with the devil I don’t know than to let the devil I do know have 4 more years to send my country further into the ditch.

But politically, it pretty well dispels many of the Republican talking points about how terrible the federal government is.

Levi, you say a lot of stupid things… and that is, without question, one of the stupidest.

Remember how I (yes, I) am always saying that the government has legitimate functions? No one denies that the government is best at performing the government (few) legimate functions. No one here.

You may as well argue that, because the government is best at having a military to fight wars, it also magically knows how to run healthcare and pick green energy companies. Oh wait… brain-dead fascists like you, do try to argue exactly that.

Since you believe in total government as the answer to every problem, the distinction between government doing its legitimate functions and government attempting (badly) to do illegitimate functions, is lost on you.

I hesitate to say that disaster management is one of government’s legitimate functions. But some libertarians say that it is – along with police, courts and military, which are definitely 3 legitimate functions. So I haven’t ruled it out.

The purpose of government is to remove physical force (as much as reasonably possible) as an issue in most people’s lives. Things which clearly have to do with that, are legitimate government functions. Things which don’t, aren’t.

In removing physical force as an issue in people’s lives, government becomes The Monopoly That Legally Gets To Use Physical Force. That is why Levi, and other fascists, love to use government so much, to solve every little problem imaginable.

Basically, they love forcing people to do things. They dream of forcing everyone to live their way. That is what makes them fascists.

One function government is SUPPOSED to do, is defense. As in not let Americans die in a third world shithole, where you unConstitutionally sent them, and you did not provide them standard security EVER, and then you watch them die, lie about it, take a man’s first amendments rights away and jail him over that lie because you are a lying piece of communist dirtbag. And I’m looking at Hillary too.

Levi, you say a lot of stupid things… and that is, without question, one of the stupidest.

Remember how I (yes, I) am always saying that the government has legitimate functions? No one denies that the government is best at performing the government (few) legimate functions. No one here.

You may as well argue that, because the government is best at having a military to fight wars, it also magically knows how to run healthcare and pick green energy companies. Oh wait… brain-dead fascists like you, do try to argue exactly that.

Since you believe in total government as the answer to every problem, the distinction between government doing its legitimate functions and government attempting (badly) to do illegitimate functions, is lost on you.

Well then, government’s legitimate functions. I presume you would include disaster response and recovery among these legitimate functions? Well if that’s the case, then you have to grant that a legitimate function of the government would also include forecasting storms, preparing evacuation routes, and maintaining networks of rapidly deploy-able emergency equipment and personnel? If you expect the government to be cleaning up after big storms, I assume you’ll want them to do it efficiently, so you’ll have to arm the government with lots of information. So a legitimate function of the government also has to include a roster of oceanographers and ecologists and civil engineers and population statisticians, that way the government can know where resources are likely to be needed and how they need to be made available. And if you want good oceanographers and ecologists and engineers, then one of the government’s legitimate functions is to fund education so that there are guaranteed to be good candidates to fill those positions…

And while we’re at it, for the sake of responding to natural disasters, isn’t it worth the government looking into the question of whether or not climate change is creating more powerful tropical storms? The government of a country whose economy is predicated on the burning of fossil fuels, I would expect, would want to understand if the burning of fossil fuels was contributing to more destructive, more expensive hurricanes. So yes, let’s add climate research to the list of government functions. And if the climate is changing? Shouldn’t the government attempt to encourage green energy development and adoption in the US?

I’m not talking about total government solutions. The government is best at solving big problems beyond the capacity of private enterprise, but that doesn’t mean they don’t include private enterprise in the solution. The government should focus private enterprise, give it a goal to reach, and offer rewards for progress. That’s how car companies and airplane manufacturer’s and internet companies became the hugely successful companies they are today. Indeed, the private sector has automatically organized itself around catering to the various endeavors our government has undertaken. The indirect effects cascade through the economy. The government funded NASA, set a goal of landing on the moon, and hired private businesses and citizens to get it done. The educational and manufacturing systems that provided the technology and human capital for the Space Race remained to train millions of other Americans who applied their knowledge for personal profit elsewhere in the private sector.

I don’t want the government to be some dumb organization that only gets around to responding to disasters after the fact. I want them working on ways to prevent further disasters or limiting their ability to do damage, because that’s a much better investment. And yet, this is always what’s cut so that millionaires can give themselves tax breaks. There’s never enough money for the environmental impact studies or safety net programs because some dumb conservative is always complaining about how their business is paying too much taxes.

The conservative inability to discern all the connections and linkages and mutual dependencies between the public and private sector is incredible. These used car salesmen really have you believing that it’s all them, don’t they? And your unstoppable paranoia about me and my desire to imprison you in some way or force you to stop eating donuts or whatever because I advocate for a government that prioritizes scientific research and environmental protection is equally astounding.

Well if that’s the case, then you have to grant that a legitimate function of the government would also include forecasting storms, preparing evacuation routes, and maintaining networks of rapidly deploy-able emergency equipment and personnel?

Government fail, Levi. And since you can’t even manage the basics, as proven by these facts, you do not deserve or should be given the money, resources, and power to do more.

You post lies, and our facts obliterate you. That is typical of liberals, who are quite unintelligent and uneducated, only capable of spouting tired old tropes that facts time and again show to be false.

And your unstoppable paranoia about me and my desire to imprison you in some way or force you to stop eating donuts or whatever because I advocate for a government that prioritizes scientific research and environmental protection is equally astounding.

We already know you are a malicious and violent liar who justifies shooting people because they “provoke” you, as you did with the FRC shooting. Your stated desire to use the power of government to punish those who won’t agree with your fascist utopia makes your hatred and contempt for your fellow citizens, as well as your willingness to abuse the power of government to punish them, abundantly clear.

You are too much of a coward to steal openly, so you attempt to do it using the political system. And starting Tuesday, you are staring into what is an abyss, as the rest of you and your fellow teat-suckers consider life with actual work and productivity involved.

And starting Tuesday…you and your fellow teat-suckers consider life with actual work and productivity involved.

Well, God willing!

As to whether Levi is a fascist – someone who worships the State, telling anyone who will listen that the State is literally “everything” in life, and that its power lets Levi force people “kicking and screaming” to live as he wants them to: we may as well quote Levi’s words again; his memory seems to be short.

“…I’m smarter than most conservatives, this is beyond any doubt… People like you need people like me to drag you kicking and screaming into the future.” Comment by Levi — February 8, 2010

“…the government is everything. America is government. Civilization is government. Government is the reason human beings don’t live in caves and live beyond the age of 30. Government is the most useful invention in the history of mankind. Without a doubt, a powerful, efficient, and transparent government is our best chance for success in the future.” Comment by Levi — March 30, 2012

And if the climate is changing? Shouldn’t the government attempt to encourage green energy development and adoption in the US?

HELL. NO.

Only a fascist – a quasi-religious believer in the power of the State, one for whom the State occupies the place that God or Spirit occupies in the lives of other people, and one who in fact is almost completely ignorant of real climate science – could seriously believe that the State has the power to prevent climate change. It doesn’t.

Furthermore, as the Obama administration has shown these last four years: the more government gets involved in so-called “green energy” or any undertaking that should properly be left to markets, the more government only screws it up and sets it back.